BML Report post Posted October 28, 2007 My dad and I went 2 for 2 this weekend. I had 6 total days of scouting in our unit without seeing a single deer. I have to be honest that my confidence was next to none. It's been a long time since my dad and I have killed a deer. We pretty much though that this was going to be another typical deer hunt without seeing many deer and it ended up being the complete opposite. Opening morning found us hiking in at dark to our glassing point. We were on the west side of a big mountain glassing across to another big mountain. In between us was a pretty good canyon. I had the Swaro 15's on the tripod(thanks Terry!!) and started my search. As soon as the sun broke the horizon, I hear my dad whisper, "I got a deer!". I found them shortly after and saw that we had a doe, a fawn and a small fork horn buck. I told my dad that he could have first shot. He wasn't concerned with size and I wanted to try to shoot a three point or better, so this little buck was all his. We watched them and very quickly realized that they were heading down into the bottom of the canyon. We had to side hill them, basically racing them over there. After a while, we were set up 239 yards from the bottom of the canyon waiting for them. Then we realized that the buck had completely vanished!! He was no longer with the doe and fawn. They continued down the hill. On the way down, they picked up a really long spike that we hadn't seen before. As they started to filter through our shooting lane, my dad could not find him in the scope. I kept telling him he had better shoot because if they get to the bottom, they would be gone. Well, he couldn't find them in the scope and they made it to the bottom and out of site. I told my dad to head down there and see if he could find them and I would wait. Well, he didn't go 50 yards and they started coming out of the bottom. It was then that I could no longer hold back and I picked up my rifle. My dad still couldn't find him, so I made the decision to go ahead and take him. One 239 yard shot and he rolled twice down the hill!! WooHoo for me. My first buck in a very long time!! We hiked down to the bottom and realized that there was a quad road down there about 30 yards from my buck. How lucky were we!! Upon review of my buck, we noticed that his left horn was pretty gnarly. It had a bunch of dried velvet still on it and the right horn had a small mass all the way around it about where the eye guard should have been. He also had a small kicker coming off the back. I figured maybe he wasn't really a yearling spike, but rather a very old buck. I checked his teeth and sure enough there were only 4!! Here he is. Saturday morning we were at the exact same spot. It took a little longer, but we found deer again, only this time a little farther away. We had that same doe and fawn, but this time they were with two different three points!! I couldn't believe it. I immediately started kicking myself for not being patient enough. Oh well, nothing I could do about it but help my dad shoot one of them! Unbelievable, these deer did the exact same thing the deer did the morning before. They were heading down to the exact same spot I shot my buck so we headed to the exact same spot as well. As they filtered through, my brother told my dad to wait until he said shoot and "BOOM!" the rifle went off!! My dad apparently has the same amount of patience as me!! haha. He shot the very first buck that came through, which was the smaller one! The larger buck had held up just a tad and it saved his life!! Here is my dad's buck: Both these bucks were glassed from the same spot, shot from the same rock and died a mere 30 yards apart on separate days. Both shots were 239 yards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZP&Y Report post Posted October 28, 2007 Very Nice Coues Double there - BML & pops! Looks like you 'patterned' those bucks pretty quickly! Nice when it all comes together. Congrats! AzP&Y Doug Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BML Report post Posted October 29, 2007 Thanks Doug. I guess you could call that Patterning 101! The deer actually made it pretty easy for us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GameHauler Report post Posted October 29, 2007 2 for 2 in 2 days! Were you using a 222 by any chance? Way to go guys glad you were able to spend time with your Dad and brother. Nothing wrong with them bad boys. Meat in the freezer, and stories to be told, And memories with family Congrates, Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az4life Report post Posted October 29, 2007 congrats on the successful hunts. You got some meat in the freezer and is sounds like a rare situation with essentially the same hunt, 2 days in a row. 30 ft off a quad trail is the real BONUS! Y'know, your pop has good taste in hunting shirts too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cramerhunts Report post Posted October 29, 2007 Congrats to you and your dad. That's gonna be some mighty fine eating there. Phil Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azryan Report post Posted October 29, 2007 awesome job...good too see you tagged out...both nice looking deer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BML Report post Posted October 29, 2007 Gamehauler, I was shooting my new .270 WSM and my dad was shooting his trusty .270. After this deer, though, I am switching bullets. I was shooting the 150g Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips. What a freaking mess inside!!! I shoot these bullets out of my 22.250 and love them on predators. For deer I just found out that they are way too expansive. My shot entered just in front of the hind quarter and exited (sort of) behind the front shoulder. The bullet basically just exploded inside the deer. The shot angle was pretty extreme from the steep slope and the quartering away as he was coming out of the canyon. The only organ that I could identify was the heart. Everything else was total mush!!! It was nice to not waste any meat but the cleaning job was tough. az4life, It was the EXACT same hunt two days in a row. The whole quad road thing was just a blessing!! Sort of like icing on a long overdue cake! Cramerhunts, We ate the tenderloins of my dad's buck in camp last night and it was awesome!!! It had no "gamey" taste at all. My wife even ate some and she's not a big fan of venison. I can't wait to grill up the back strap medallions we cut out! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arizona Griz Report post Posted October 29, 2007 Congratulations on your buck's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Packer Report post Posted October 29, 2007 Congratulations to both of you on an excellent hunt packer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mulie hunter Report post Posted October 30, 2007 Great job. Nice bucks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azpackhorse Report post Posted October 30, 2007 Nice! great job guys!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZcoues_addict Report post Posted October 30, 2007 Nice bucks Blake, there's nothing like tagging out and spending some time with dad! Congratulations. Jason Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tinman111 Report post Posted October 30, 2007 Blake, Good job man! Way to get 'er done! Nice pics and a good story. Neil Large Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bchoitz Report post Posted October 31, 2007 Congrats on your two bucks! Nice story, 6 days of scouting without a deer and all that frustration gone in an instant! Way to go! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
